German Patent Application No. DE 101 08 467, for example, describes a fuel injector which is supplied with fuel via a fuel distribution line. The injection end of the fuel injector is inserted into a receptacle opening of a cylinder head. The inlet end of the fuel injector projects into a receptacle opening of the fuel distribution line and is radially surrounded by an annular gasket, which seals off the fuel injector from the fuel distribution line. The gasket is designed as an O-ring and is made of a rubber-type material.
The disadvantage of the fuel injection system known from the above-mentioned publication is in particular that the gasket is inadequate for higher fuel pressures. Furthermore, the radial gasket is incapable of compensating for axial tolerances which appear, for example, in operation due to different degrees of thermal expansion of the fuel distribution line and the cylinder head because of the inclination of the fuel injectors with respect to the receptacle openings. Furthermore, the gaskets can be manufactured only for a very narrow temperature range. The fuel can diffuse through annular gaskets made of a rubber-type material.